Cheavers continue streak at home against Panthers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The RWD varsity Cheavers hockey team showed the grit and poise shown at the recent Monk’s Cheeseburger Classic was not temporary, putting together its best 51-minute effort of the season so far in a thrilling 4-2 Badger West Conference win against the Oregon Panthers Thursday night at the Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA).

The Cheavers never trailed but didn’t have the game fully under control until an empty netter from Trevor Slaght with 27 seconds to play.

The win extends the team’s current winning streak to seven games dating back to the team’s previous meeting with the Panthers, a 5-1 loss on Dec. 15.

The team honored its seniors and their parents between the warm-up and pre-game flood.

All three forward lines and defense pairs along with senior goaltender Cooper Oakes played to expectations and Head Coach Neil Mattson showed he was not afraid to put anybody on the ice in high pressure situations. And, considering the Panthers entered the game with the state’s top three points leaders and are currently ranked second in state among Division 2 teams, that is a pretty darn high level of pressure.

RWD hit the scoreboard first, senior Tomas Korndorfer hitting the mesh from a tough angle 7:29 into the contest and sophomore Brady Baldwin buried a pass from Korndorfer to give the host Cheavers a 2-0 cushion at the first period break.

Andrew Jicha fired his state-leading 28^th goal of the season for the Panthers early in the second period and a penalty called in the final minute of the frame gave the visitors reason for optimism at the break.

Senior C.J. Pfaff turned the tables though, intercepting a pass and heading the other way alone, making several moves before depositing the puck into the Oregon cage for a shorthanded goal 31 seconds into the final period.

The only issue the team struggled with was some tough penalty calls in the second half. After the Panthers were assessed the first four infractions of the game, the Cheavers had the finger pointed at them five consecutive times from the 11:33 mark of the second to the 12:01 mark of the third.

Successful at killing off the first four, the Panthers finally found a way through as senior Joe Roemer buried one bar down from about 40 feet out with 3:42 to play.

That set the stage for Slaght’s clincher with assists for Pfaff and sophomore Trey Lariden.

Overall, the Cheavers held a 35-27 edge in shots.

The win boosted the team’s overall record to 11-5 and more importantly, boosted its Badger West Conference record to 4-2, keeping league title hopes alive.

The Panthers fell to 9-6 and 2-4 since its previous win against the Cheavers and their conference record falls to 3-3.

Next up for the Cheavers is another conference battle as they travel to Pierce Park Pavilion on Tuesday (Jan. 11) and the Panthers will also move on to play at Pierce Park on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Eagles wrap up third straight shutout against T-Birds

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Sauk Prairie Eagles and Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds returned from a brief holiday break to face each other at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Monday (Jan. 3) night.

The Eagles collected a 9-0 win, its third straight goose egg to wrap up its first round of Badger West Conference play at 3-2, snapping two conference losses in a row.

Teams played through seven minutes without a goal, but the Eagles wrapped up four in the final 10 minutes of the opening period and piled on three more in the middle frame before wrapping it up with two down the homestretch.

Seniors Hakon Peterson and Micah Hanson and junior Luke Mast fired two goals apiece, Peterson adding two assists and Mast setting up one. Seniors Nick Mast and Erik Peterson both notched a goal and two assists, the other goal fired by junior Landon Clary.

Luke Mast boosted his season points total to 46, fourth best in the state behind only the Oregon trio of Kyle Rohrer (57), Andrew Jicha (51) and Joe Roemer (47). He is also third in assist. Nick Mast’s goal was his 26^th of the season, boosting him to second in state, tied with David Emerich of Waunakee and just two behind state leader, Jicha.

The Eagles held a 44-8 edge in shots on goal. Junior Brooks McInerney picked up the shutout in goal and first year Burke Schweda was the busiest man on the ice, in goal for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds returned home to Pierce Park Pavilion where it was scheduled to play host to the Black River Falls Tigers on Tuesday and the Eagles head straight into the second half of its Badger West Conference schedule with a trip to SLICE in Monroe to play the host Cheesemakers on Thursday night.

Solid play but lapses hurt varsity Cheavers

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The RWD varsity Cheavers slipped back under .500 with a couple rough days at the office.

On Saturday (Dec. 11), the Cheavers played host to Baldwin-Woodville Hawks for a non-conference tilt and saw a 3-2 edge after two periods slip away thanks to three unanswered Hawks goals in the final 17 minutes and a 5-3 loss.

On Tuesday at Oregon, the Cheavers went up against one of the state’s top scoring teams, the Oregon Panthers and limited the team to 26 shots, but that was enough for a 5-1 win for the home team.

Baldwin Woodville Hawks 5 @ RWD Cheavers 3

The home team couldn’t have started this game much better, outshooting a Hawks team coming off a tough loss the night before at Black River Falls to start the weekend road trip, by a 19-4 margin.

But on the scoreboard teams were even at 1-1, the lone goal coming from junior defenseman Carsen Brandt, just back in the lineup after a season opening injury. Brandt’s rising shot from the blue line hit the back of the net unseen by the Baldwin keeper, cancelling out the Hawks’ opener, scored a couple minutes prior.

Another defender stepped up 33 seconds into the middle period as senior Grant Marsich put the Cheavers in front with help from junior Caden Brandt and senor Tomas Komdofer.

The Hawks tied it just past the nine-minute mark, but Komdofer put the Cheavers in front again 63 seconds from the middle period buzzer from Marsich.

The Cheavers held a 31-14 edge in shots through the first 34 minutes, but the visitors flipped the script in the final frame, tying the game 6:17 in and taking the lead with 6:17 to play on a powerplay. Another powerplay goal, third of the game for the Hawks all but settled the game with 1:54 to play.

RWD Cheavers 1 @ Oregon Panthers 5

The assignment awaiting anyone taking on the Panthers is shutting down the explosive trio of Joe Roemer, Kyle Rohrer and Andrew Jicha. For the most part, the Cheavers did that for 44 of 51 minutes Tuesday night, but three goals in seven minutes to open the middle period showed just how explosive that trio can be.

The Cheavers took the game to the host Panthers through the opening period, holding the high-flying team to one goal scored 2:03 into the contest.

The Cheavers held a 10-8 edge on the shot clock, but the Panthers scored twice in the opening two minutes of the second and added another before the seven-minute mark to widen the gap.

Senior CJ Pfaff finally got the Cheavers on the board with 7:05 to play in the game, from juniors Yevgeny Dedun and Logan DeMars, but any thoughts of a late comeback with squashed less than a minute later as Oregon fired its fifth.

Once again the Cheavers held the overall edge on the shot clock but just by a 27-26 margin.

Rohrer-Roemer and Jicha played a part in all five Panther goals and combined for 10 points although only one of the markers involved all three.

The back-to-back losses dropped the Cheavers under .500 at 4-5 for the first time since Dec. 3 when they sat at 2-3. It also evened the team’s Badger West Conference record at 2-2, making Friday’s home game against the Sauk Prairie Eagles (3-1, 1-1 Badger West) crucial to the team’s conference championship hopes alive.

That game will wrap up the first half of the Conference schedule for the Cheavers who will have one more game before the Christmas break, traveling to Tomah to faceoff against Tomah/Sparta on Tuesday (Dec. 21).

Badger West this week

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

A busy week of Badger West head-to-head matches set up a crucial week ahead filled with big matches as the six teams hit the halfway mark on the conference schedule.

Key game of the week saw the Madison Edgewood Crusaders making its home ice debut with a 6-1 win against the Sauk Prairie Eagles giving the visitors its first loss and first loss in what ended up being the lone game of the week for both teams.

The Crusaders remain undefeated in conference play and enter this week with the Panthers as co-leaders entering their head-to-head battle on Monday (Dec. 13) which will be part of next week’s conference summary.

The Panthers enjoyed a big week, starting with an 8-0 win at SLICE against Monroe Cheesemakers Monday and also including a 9-8 edge against Big Eight leading Janesville Bluebirds on home ice Tuesday.

A scheduled meeting between the Eagles and Panthers was postponed and will now be played on Dec. 20.

RWD hit the conference win columns with victories against both Baraboo Portage on home ice Tuesday and at SLICE in Monroe Thursday but wrapped up the win with a tough non-conference loss to Baldwin on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds also dropped a pair of non-conference matches, both at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo while the Cheesemakers lost a pair of conference matches as well as a road game against Muskego

MADISON EDGEWOOD CRUSADERS (4-1, 2-0 Badger West)

SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLES (3-1, 1-1 Badger West)

These two are included together as their lone game of the week was against each other.

After dropping its season opener, the Crusaders have now racked up four straight including conference matches against both RWD and Sauk Prairie.

It’s starting to look like this team could be in for a special season with an awesome group of seniors leading the way.

J.J. Wiebusch was in on five of the six (2g, 3a) against the Eagles and has put up 15 points in the team’s four wins. Parker Murn and Cody Menzel both collected four points in the game and Aidan Lenz had three set ups.

In goal, sophomore Rowan White and freshman Hayden Reuhl have combined on the 4-1 record, stopping all but 11 of 118 shots against so far.

For the Eagles, the Mast brothers, senior Nick and junior Luke both played a part in the lone goal, and they have combined on 27 points through four games for the Eagles.

After playing Oregon on Monday, the Crusaders will stay home to entertain the Cheesemakers Tuesday wrapping up the team’s pre-Christmas schedule. They have yet to play Baraboo/Portage and those two teams will meet twice in the second half of the schedule.

The Eagles are scheduled to entertain Baraboo/Portage at SPARC on Tuesday and will be at RACA in Reedsburg to play RWD. The Eagles will remain busy, the moved game to Dec. 20 leaving them with still five games to play before the break.

OREGON PANTHERS (6-1, 2-0 Badger West)

The offensively gifted Panthers continued to wreak havoc on opposition goaltenders this past week, scoring another 17 goals and racking up two more wins.

After the 8-0 shutout at SLICE Monday, the team played at home Tuesday and an equally impressive Janesville Bluebirds team its first loss 9-8 on Tuesday.

The Oregon team, ranked among state coaches as one of the top Division 2 teams in the state, rolled into Tuesday’s game with 59 goals through its first seven games – an average of more than eight per match. The Bluebirds rolled in undefeated through its first three games with 29 goals scored so the 17 goals in the game was likely no surprise.

The trio of forwards – junior Kyle Rohrer, sophomore Andrew Jicha and senior Joe Roemer continued their season opening barrage combining for 30 points in the two games.

Rohrer notched eight goals and five assists in the two games and entered this week as the state leader with 41 points. Jicha had two goals and six assists and is currently second in state with 36 points while Roemer picked up two goals and seven helpers and currently sits third with 32 points so far.

The Panthers are scheduled to start the win making the trip to LaBahn Arena Monday in a battle of the only two teams undefeated in conference play so far. After hosting RWD the following night, the Panthers will wrap up the week with a non-conference contest against Fond du Lac Warbirds on Saturday in Oregon. Wrapping up the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule, the Panthers will travel to Sauk Prairie on Monday, Dec. 20.

RWD CHEAVERS (5-5, 2-1 Badger West)

RWD picked up a pair of big wins to climb over .500 both in conference and overall, but a tough 5-3 loss against the visiting Baldwin-Woodville Hawks on Saturday was a bit of a spoiler.

RWD has shown itself to be well balanced so far, collecting 19 goals in the three games played while allowing just one in the two conference matches.

Junior Caden Brandt and senior CJ Pfaff both collected eight points in the two wins while senior goaltender Cooper Oakes kicked out all but one of 30 shots faced and picked up a shutout. Brandt’s 19 point have him in a tie for ninth in state.

The team has collected at least a point from 14 players in its first eight games.

BARABOO/PORTAGE THUNDERBIRDS (1-5, 0-2 Badger West)

A tough 8-0 loss against conference rival in Reedsburg was sandwiched between a pair of non-conference losses Monday against Madison LaFollette East Lakers (6-3) at Pierce Park Pavilion Monday and Thursday (10-4) against Brookfield Stars.

The team was missing eight players due to illness, injury or other reasons against the Cheavers, and the team has not had a full lineup on the ice yet this season.

Seniors Oliver Scanlan and Gabe Fitzwilliams have tried the lead the squad, both scoring in both non-conference matches, Scanlan ending the week with three goals and Fitzwilliams with two. The other goals came from junior Luke Schweda and freshman Jordi Beale.

Thunderbirds have dropped four in a row and face a tough assignment Tuesday making the trip to Sauk Prairie to play the Eagles and staying on the road Thursday for another tough game against the Bluebirds, then returning home to Pierce Park Pavilion Saturday to face the Monroe Cheesemakers.

MONROE CHEESEMAKERS (1-8, 0-3 Badger West)

A rough week for the Cheesemakers saw the team dropping conference losses to both Oregon (8-0) and RWD (8-1) and wrapping up the week with an 8-1 loss on home ice against the Muskego Co-op Ice Force. The losses stretched the team’s current losing streak to five games and they have dropped their first three Badger West matches.

Junior Nolan Bodenstein and sophomore Wyatt Janecke scored the Cheesemaker goals. The week ahead will be tough as well, beginning with a conference match at La Bahn Arena in Madison against the Crusaders Tuesday and a Saturday contest at Pierce Park Pavilion against Baraboo/Portage to wrap up the first half of the conference schedule.

Badger West This Week — game on in Conference

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

BADGER WEST THIS WEEK (Nov. 29 – Dec. 5, 2021)

The Badger West entered the first round of head-to-head conference matches in the second full week of the season and early results were mostly lopsided.

Oregon Panthers and Madison Edgewood Crusaders both enjoyed two-win weeks while the Sauk Prairie Eagles won its only game and remain the lone undefeated squad in the group. The RWD Cheavers picked up a big win but dropped its conference opener while the Monroe Cheesemakers and Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds both dropped a pair.

All six teams will play key conference matches in the week ahead so the conference championship picture will begin to take shape.

OREGON PANTHERS (4-1-0, 1-0 Badger West)

A wild 20-goal contest saw the Panthers opening conference play with a 14-6 edge against the visiting Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds on Thursday (Dec. 2) and following it up with a 6-2 win the following night, also on home ice against former Badger South rival, McFarland Spartans.

Those results give the Panthers an overall 42-19 edge on opponents through five games and the trio of Andrew Jicha, Kyle Rohrer and Joe Roemer have combined for 79 points, holding down the top three spots in the state.

Week ahead – A three-game week begins and ends with conference matches. The Panthers were scheduled to play at Stateline Ice and Community Expo (SLICE) on Monday and wrap it up with a visit to the Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) on Thursday night. In between, the Panthers will play host to the Janesville Bluebirds on Tuesday.

MADISON EDGEWOOD CRUSADERS (3-1, 1-0 Badger West)

The Crusaders had most of the week to practice and prepare for Friday and Saturday matches, opening its Badger-West Conference schedule with a 4-2 win at Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) on Friday night and adding another 4-1 decision against the Madison Memorial Spartans at Hartmeyer Ice Arena on Saturday.

The wins give the Crusaders a three-game winning streak and the trio of J.J. Wiebusch, Cody Menzel and Aidan Lenz were in on all four goals against RWD. They combined for 16 points in the two games.

Week Ahead – After four on the road to open the season, the Crusaders have three in a row at LaBahn Ice Arena but just one this week, Tuesday against the visiting Sauk Prairie Eagles.

SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLES (3-0, 1-0 Badger West)

The Eagles played just once this past weekend, traveling to SLICE and opening Badger West for an overwhelming 9-0 win against the Monroe Cheesemakers, giving the Eagles a total of 24 goals through its first three contests.

The Mast brothers, senior Nick and junior Luke are off to strong offensive starts, combining on 25 points so far and junior goaltenders Kaden Stracke and Brooks McInerney shared the shutout in Monroe.

Week Ahead – The Eagles have a massive week ahead playing both other first round conference winners. On Tueday the Eagles will be at LaBahn Ice Arena to face the Madison Edgewood Crusaders and on Thursday, the Eagles host the Oregon Panthers at SPARC.

RWD CHEAVERS (2-3, 0-1 Badger West)

The Cheavers opened the week with a big 5-4 overtime win against the visiting Onalaska Hilltoppers, the first regular season win against Onalaska since the RWD program was formed in 2010. Despite another solid effort, the Cheavers came up short against the Crusaders on Friday, snapping a two-game winning streak and putting the team under .500 once again.

RWD has been outscored 16-14 through five games and led offensively by junior Caden Brandt in on 10 of their goals.

Senior goaltender Cooper Oakes has stopped 193 of 209 shots for a .929 Save Percentage to rank among the state’s best puck stoppers.

Week Ahead – After a big rivalry game at RACA against the Thunderbirds Tuesday night, the Cheavers will make the trip to Monroe Thursday to face the Cheesemakers and wrap up a busy week with a non-conference duel against Baldwin-Woodville Hawks on Saturday in Reedsburg.

BARABOO/PORTAGE THUNDERBIRDS (1-3, 0-1 Badger West)

The 14-goals against at Oregon might be the most allowed in a game since the Badger/Portage Co-op was founded in 2010, but the six goals for in the same game was easily the team’s best offensive showing in a crazy game.

The Thunderbirds have endured a season’s worth of adversity with injuries and illness hampering the lineup but senior forwards such as Gabe Fitzwilliams and Oliver Scanlan have been contributing.

Week Ahead – Thunderbirds have already opened a busy week, dropping a 4-1 non-conference decision to Madison LaFollette-East at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo Monday and travelling the following night to its conference test at RACA in Reedsburg.

On Thursday, the Thunderbirds will play a non-conference game against the Brookfield Stars at Pierce Park Pavilion.

MONROE CHEESEMAKERS (1-5, 0-1 Badger West)

The Cheesemakers dropped its Conference opener on the road 9-0 against the Sauk Prairie Eagles Thursday and fell 7-2 against KMMO (Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago/Oconomowoc) at SLICE Saturday.

The losses dropped the Cheesemakers to 1-5. Seth Brandt scored both goals against KMMO.

Week Ahead – The road will stay tough for the Cheesemakers with the Oregon Panthers scheduled to pay a visit Monday and RWD will be in Monroe for a Thursday night test. The Cheesemakers will hit the road Saturday wrapping up a three-game week against the Muskego Co-Op Ice Force at Wilson Ice Arena in Milwaukee.

Badger West this Week

Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

BADGER WEST THIS WEEK

The Badger West Division is now one week old in WIAA Hockey play and preparing for its first week of head-to-head conference matches.

Facing tough opposition could have played a part in the division opening the season with a 7-7 record so far and the only undefeated team of the half-dozen is the Sauk Prairie Eagles who scored 15 goals in its first two contests, both wins.

Oregon Panthers picked up with three games in three days at a holiday event in Sheboygan, winning the first two by lopsided scores.

Madison Edgewood Crusaders also opened at a weekend event in Verona, grabbing a split in two games played. The Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells (RWD) Cheavers dropped an opener in Wisconsin Rapids before splitting a pair at a weekend tournament in Somerset.

The Monroe Cheesemakers got an early start, dropping a pair before grabbing its first win against Beloit Memorial and the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds opened its regular season Saturday with a loss against Middleton Cardinals on home ice.

SAUK PRAIRIE EAGLES (2-0-0)

After opening on home ice Tuesday (Nov. 23) with a 7-5 win against the always tough Onalaska Hilltoppers, the Eagles were equally as impressive in its first road test, taking an 8-2 win at Madison Ice Arena (MIA) against the host Madison West Regents.

The Mast brothers, senior Nick (5g, 3a) and junior Luke (2g, 5a) have led the way offensively and Hakon Peterson is close behind with five points (2g, 3a).

OREGON PANTHERS (2-1-0)

The Panthers held off its start to the season until Friday, but then played three games in three days, beginning with a 7-2 win against the Brookfield Stars and a 10-0 whitewash against the Whitefish Bay Storm. The Ashwaubenon Jaguars ended the streak on Sunday with an 8-5 win against the Panthers.

With 22 goals in its first three games, the Panthers enter conference play as a team that can score consistently.

Leading the charge is junior Kyle Rohrer who slides into a share of the state scoring lead with his 18 points (6g, 12a) and sophomore Andrew Jicha (10g, 7a) is just one point behind. Joe Roemer (2g, 10a) has also been a steady contributor.

Junior Josh Kean has been in the blue paint for all three games and stopped 68 of 77 shots so far.

MADISON EDGEWOOD CRUSADERS (1-1-0)

The Crusaders also waited until the weekend to get the season underway. It doesn’t get any tougher than facing the defending state champ in the opener as the Crusaders dropped a 7-2 decision against the Hudson Raiders Friday but rallying back with a 5-1 win against the Chippewa Falls Cardinals on Saturday.

Senior JJ Wiebusch has been in on five of his team’s seven goals (3g, 2a) so far and Cody Menzel has four points (2g, 2a) while senior Aidan Lenz has collected three (1g, 2a).

RWD CHEAVERS (1-2-0)

Entering the season at Wisconsin Rapids Tuesday night, the Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells/Mauston squad held a 2-0 lead early, but the Red Raiders who held a wide margin in shots finally pulled back with the game winner in a 3-2 win coming late in the contest.

From there, the Cheavers moved on to a weekend event in Somerset, dropping its opener 2-1 against the Eau Claire North Huskies Friday before finally breaking into the win column with a 5-3 margin against the host Somerset Spartans on Saturday.

Senior goaltender Cooper Oakes has been a key factor, turning aside 122 shots in three games and posting a Save Percentage of .938 out of the gate.

Offensively, junior Caden Brandt has collected six points (1g, 5a) and Brady Baldwin has picked up four (3g, 1a) while senior CJ Pfaff has been consistent with a point in all three games (1g, 2a).

MONROE CHEESEMAKERS (1-2-0)

Compared to the other teams in the Badger West, the Cheesemakers got off to a quick start, dropping a 4-2 decision to Whitefish Bay Storm on Nov. 19 and falling 8-3 against the Middleton Cardinals on Tuesday before finally breaking into the win column with a 4-2 doubling of the Beloit Memorial Purple Knights.

All three games were played on the road and the Cheesemakers have one more road test before finally playing on home ice.

Senior Blaze Janecke has been a bright spot in the lineup for the Cheesemakers in on six (5g, 1a) of the team’s nine goals and sophomore goaltender Kyle Theorin backstopped the win, stopping all but two of the 42 shots he faced in Beloit.

BARABOO/PORTAGE THUNDERBIRDS (0-1)

Thunderbirds were the final Badger West team to hit the ice, dropping a 7-0 shutout against the Middleton Cardinals Saturday night at Pierce Park Pavilion in Baraboo.

Senior goaltender Andrew Schaetzl was the busiest man in the game facing 46 shots and stopping 39.

Conference matches ahead

All six teams will enter the Badger West Conference fray this week, but a few teams will have another test along the way.

On Tuesday night, the RWD Cheavers will entertain the Onalaska Hilltoppers while the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds travel to Tomah/Sparta.

The Cheesemakers will be at Sauk Prairie Area Recreation Center (SPARC) for its fourth straight road test Thursday night and the Baraboo/Portage Thunderbirds will face its first conference test at Oregon Ice Arena against the host Panthers.

On Friday, the final two teams will match up as the Madison Edgewood Crusaders will make the trip to Reedsburg Area Community Arena (RACA) against the host Cheavers. Also Friday, the Panthers will play host to the McFarland Spartans in a non-conference match.

The week will wrap up with a pair of non-conference battles as Monroe Cheesemakers finally play in front of friendly fans at State Line Ice and Community Expo (SLICE) against the KMMO (Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago/Oconomowoc) hockey club while the Madison Edgewood Crusaders travel across town to Hartmeyer Ice Arena to tangle with the Madison Memorial Spartans.

Oakes shines for Jets at NAHL Prospects Challenge

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Before embarking on a senior season and adding to an already history-making career as the primary goaltender for the RWD varsity hockey team, Cooper Oakes is getting a look at his hockey future.

Oakes, an ’03 from Reedsburg, attended a North American Hockey League (NAHL) combine in Columbus, Ohio in April and in late May he backstopped a Janesville Jets sponsored 18U team to a pair of wins on a weekend that saw the team wrap up at 3-1 at an event at the National Sports Center Super Rinks in Blaine, Minn.

The team played four times as one of several teams at the NAHL event played while the mother Janesville Jets were playing in their Division semifinal against the Kenai River Brown Bears. The Alaska-based Brown Bears have been using the Minnesota rink as a home barn.

After starting out with a 4-3 (so) win against the Austin Bruins, the Jets dropped a 5-2 decision against the Northeast Generals, then bounced back with a 3-1 win against the Lone Star Brahmas and finally, a 2-0 edge against the Kenai River Brown Bears.

Janesville Jets 4 Austin Bruins 3 (SO)

In the opening game against the Austin Bruins 18U squad, Oakes took the reins from Noah McCrary (‘04/Sun Prairie) in the middle period and helped the team to a 4-3 win in shootout. Oakes Bkicked out all three shots he faced in the shootout.

Regulation goals for the Jets came from Brady Moore (‘04/Eau Claire Memorial); Tyler Steuck (‘04/Janesville) and Eric Horein (‘04/Madison Capitols). The lone goal of the shootout came in the third round from Ben Carlson (‘03/Chippewa Falls).

Janesville Jets 2 Northeast Generals 5

Oakes and McCrary flipped the roles in the second game, Oakes starting the contest and handing off to Mc Cray with the Jets trailing in the second.

The pair combined for 29 saves in the contest with Jets’ goals scored by Pavel Rettig (Waunakee) and Horein.

Generals carried a 2-0 lead out of the first period and extend its lead to 4-1 in the middle frame, both teams adding one in the third.

Janesville Jets 3 Lone Star Brahmas 1

Against the Brahmas, the Jets went with McCrary between the pipes and he stopped 22 of 23 to nail down the win.

Jets trailed 1-0 after a period and charged back for the win with three unanswered in the final frame.

Carter Plante (‘04/Eau Claire) tied the score early with Horein notching the game winner and adding a clincher into an empty Brahmas’ goal with 34 seconds to play.

Janesville Jets 2 Kenai River Brown Bears 0

Oakes got the call for the finale and turned in a perfect effort, blocking all Brown Bears’ attempts in a shutout win.

The game’s first goal came in the sixth minute of the third period from Joe Roemer (‘04/Oregon HS) and Gavin Hruby (‘04/Waunakee) followed up with an insurance tally in the final minute.